The purpose of this postdoctoral research program continues to be to train a select group of young physicians and scientists in the fundamentals of basic research in cancer and immunology, with emphasis on basic mechanisms of tumor growth, invasion and metastasis, the corresponding immune response and the use and development of immunologic techniques to detect, diagnose and treat cancer. The goal is to provide young scientists with the possibility to develop into outstanding investigators capable of addressing a broad range of fundamental questions related to the immune response and the biology of cancer. Trainees will be selected primarily from outstanding residents in our pathology program, who have completed 2-3 years of postdoctoral training and who demonstrate a strong interest in pursuing a basic research career. The research training program includes selected outstanding M.D. or Ph.D. candidates from outside the pathology program. Criteria for selection include a commitment to a career in research and teaching and the consensus by the faculty that the candidate has outstanding potential for success in such a career. Continued support for 5 trainees/year is requested, distributed approximately equally among the first, second and third year of training. Training will require 2-3 years. Our program is modeled on the highly successful Research Associate Program at the NIH in which research training is primarily accomplished by intense daily exposure of trainees to one or a small group of outstanding preceptors who are themselves bench scientists and who are committed to teaching. Such training will be supplemented by extensive reading of the literature, departmental and interdepartmental seminars, formal course work and participation in national scientific meetings. During the 2-3 year training program, trainees will be exposed to a wide variety of techniques and strategies designed to study the immunology, and cellular and molecular biology of cancer. This approach is designed to provide them with the knowledge required to address a broad range of biological problems, related to immunology and cancer in subsequent years. Trainees will acquire expertise in a selected number of these fields by choosing specific topics on which they focus their research interest. Following the completion of the program, trainees will be expected to have acquired the experience and skills necessary to engage in an independent career in cancer or basic immunology research.